Charge by Alex Bernasconi
The shortlist for Sony's 2011 World Photography Awards was recently announced and it includes some spectacular photography! What I love most about this competition is that it's meant to unveil stories seen and told by people from around the globe. Sony divided up the competition between professionals and photographers of all abilities (which they called the Open competition). With submissions flowing in from all over the world, Sony not only reached their highest number of entries since the awards were founded, they truly found some remarkable talent!

Of the Open competition, Joseph Jean Rolland Dubé VP of Content Development at iStockPhoto said: “This is iStock's third year in reviewing these open entries. The competition is getting more fierce every year and the best images are the epitome of creativity and skill. Congrats to the World Photography Organization for compelling such amazing entries and let there be such a venue dedicated to raw talent for years to come.”

Today, we present to you some of our favorites in the shortlist for the Open competition. (We focused on 5 of the 10 categories.) The winners will be announced on April 27th. Can't wait!